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AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 28
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Bill would broaden HERO scholarship program
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A bill that would broaden access to Georgia’s HERO scholarship program for the military passed the state’s House of Representatives today.
House Bill 311 would allow National Guardsmen and U.S. military reservists who live in Georgia and who have been deployed in a combat zone on or after Sept. 11, 2001, to qualify for the scholarship. The law now sets the date at March 3, 2005 for the program, called Helping Educate Reservists and Their Offspring.
The bill’s sponsor, House Majority Whip Barry Fleming (R-Harem) said the legislation would make about 1,600 more service members who deployed before March of 2005 eligible for the scholarship. The program also applies to children whose parents were killed or totally disabled in a combat zone.
Recipients are eligible for up to $8,000 for four years of study in the state’s university system, the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education or an eligible private college or university in Georgia.
To date, more than 200 scholarships totaling nearly $400,000 have been awarded, according to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Permalink | | Categories: Education
Holmes’ proposal gives more clout to popular vote for president
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Democratic legislator wants to change the way American presidents are elected, and he wants the Georgia General Assembly to help.
State Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Atlanta) believes the candidate who gets the most popular votes should become president.
Currently, candidates for president are elected by an Electoral College process established in the Constitution. A candidate who gets 270 Electoral College votes is elected. States with larger populations — such as California, Texas and New York — have more Electoral College votes, which means presidential candidates spend a large amount of their time campaigning in those bigger key states.
Holmes doesn’t think that’s right, so he filed House Bill 630. Under the bill, states would be able to approve an interstate compact that allows electors to cast their votes for the candidate who wins the popular vote. For example, if the majority of Georgia voters cast their ballots for a Republican candidate, but the Democratic candidate won more popular votes throughout the U.S., Georgia’s electors would be required to give their Electoral College votes to the Democratic candidate.
If enough states — with 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes needed for victory — agree to the compact, it would ensure that the candidate with the most popular votes gets elected. Holmes said such nterstate compacts are allowed by the Constitution, though they appear to require congressional approval.
Four presidents throughout history have won the office without a popular vote. President Bush was the last, winning office in 2000 even though Democrat Al Gore received more popular votes.
Holmes could not get a Republican co-sponsor and he acknowledges the bill faces a tough time in the GOP-controlled House.
But Holmes said he at least wants to start a discussion on the subject. And he notes Republicans could eventually be on the receiving end of losing the popular vote.
“The president of the United States is the most powerful office in the world,” Holmes said today. It is, however, the only office in the world that a person can be elected to and receive fewer votes than the person that he defeats.”
Holmes said changing the process will also help make sure that presidential candidates campaign in states other than so-called “battleground” states where large Electoral College votes are at stake.
Holmes said polls show Americans favor a national popular vote plan by 70 percent.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: politics
Abortion bill altered to not require sonogram
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted late Tuesday in favor of significant changes to Senate Bill 66, a measure aimed at deterring women from having abortions.
The original bill, approved by the committee earlier this month, would have required a woman seeking an abortion in Georgia to undergo an ultrasound procedure and then choose whether to view the images.
But lawmakers decided to change the bill’s language. Now SB 66 would require doctors to “offer” an ultrasound to a woman seeking an abortion. The sonogram would not be mandatory. State Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville), the bill’s sponsor, said she decided to make the change because most clinics already perform an ultrasound prior to an abortion.
The committee also removed an amendment, proposed by Sen. Preston Smith (R-Rome), which would have excluded women who were victims of rape or incest from having to undergo the ultrasound. Schaefer said the exemption no longer was necessary because the bill does not mandate the ultrasound.
Shelley Senterfiit, an attorney and lobbyist for the Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault, said the organization was disappointed by the committee’s decision to remove the rape and incest exemption. She said amendment was important, even with the bill’s new language.
“The bill still places a survivor of rape and incest in the position of having to say ‘no,’” Senterfitt said. “We do not think she should have to say ‘no’ one more time.”
SB 66 now heads back to the Senate Rules Committee.
The House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee is scheduled to consider House Bill 147, a similar ultrasound proposal, at 3:30 p.m. today.
Permalink | | Categories: Health Care
“Merlot to Go” bill passes Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Senate is taking another shot at letting Georgians take unfinished bottles of wine home from restaurants.
The Senate passed legislation this morning letting Georgians take resealed, unfinished bottles of wine home 48-4, sending the measure to the House for the second consecutive year.
Called the “Merlot to Go” bill, advocates say the measure would give restaurant patrons the option of not feeling like they have to empty bottles of wine they’ve purchased before driving home. They say it would reduce drunk driving, and note that 34 states have similar laws.
The bill passed both chambers last year, but it was vetoed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Christian conservative who doesn’t drink. Perdue said the bill violated open-container laws and would endanger federal highway funding.
This year, lawmakers included wording making it clear the bill would not loosen current laws against driving with open containers of alcohol. Sponsors say they expect Perdue to sign it if it again passes the House.
Permalink | Comments (51) | Categories: Liquor Laws
Sunday liquor sales
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3 p.m. — Senate Regulated Industries Committee takes up a bill that would give local governments the power to decide whether to allow alcohol sales on Sunday. Voters would then have to approve the change.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Today's Agenda
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